- Influenced by the prices raised under the argument of the war between Ukraine and Russia, the main oil and gas producers have benefited from the situation and are making billions of profits. In the context of the climate emergency, activists have described the benefits as offensive and denounced the lack of government intervention.
According to data from The Guardian last May, the oil company Shell won $9.1 billion in the first quarter, almost three times more than in the same period of 2021. Exoon benefited from $8.8 billion. In total, about $100 billion has been the benefit of the 28 major global oil and gas companies.
Climate activists have criticized the performance, denouncing that the hunger for money from these companies is enormous: “The leaders of these companies have been proud to hear that inflation and the war in Ukraine have allowed them to raise prices,” says Power’s leader Lori Lodes Climate. He adds that this would not be the case if Governments took steps to address the climate crisis adequately.
Dangerous radicals
Scientists are saying that fossil fuels must be limited as soon as possible if we are to deal with the consequences of the climate emergency. Instead, the data shows that fossil fuels are a resounding economic business. The International Energy Organisation warns that there can be no new oil, gas or coal areas if we are to achieve the zero discharge target by 2050. “Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructures is moral and economic madness; sometimes they represent climate activists as if they were dangerous radicals, but the really dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels,” said Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General.